(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 09.27.2025) – On Saturday morning, September 27, Pope Leo XIV presided over a Jubilee Audience, namely, an Audience similar to the usual Wednesday General Audience, but on Saturday, due to the 2025 Jubilee. The Audience took place in St. Peter’s Square.
Below is ZENIT’s translation into English of the Pope’s catechesis.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning and welcome!
The Jubilee makes us Pilgrims of Hope, because we intuit a great need for renewal that concerns us and the whole earth.
I just said «we intuit»: this verb — to intuit — describes a movement of the spirit, an intelligence of the heart that Jesus found especially in little ones, that is, in people of humble souls. Often, in fact, educated people intuit little, because they presume to know everything. On the other hand, it is beautiful to still have space in the mind and heart so that God can reveal Himself. How much hope there is when new intuitions emerge in the People of God!
Jesus rejoices in this; He is filled with joy, because He realizes that little ones intuit. They have the sensus fidei, which is like a «sixth sense» that simple people have for the things of God. God is simple and reveals Himself to the simple. Therefore, there is an infallibility of the People of God in the faith, of which the infallibility of the Pope is an expression and service (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Lumen Gentium, 12; International Theological Commission, The Sensus Fidei in the Life of the Church, 30-40).
I would like to recall a moment in the history of the Church that shows how hope can come from the people’s capacity for intuition. In the 4th century, in Milan, the Church was torn apart by great conflicts, and the election of a new Bishop was turning into a real turmoil. The Civil Authority, Governor Ambrose, intervened and, with his great capacity for listening and mediation, brought calm. The story goes that then a child’s voice was heard crying out: «Ambrose, Bishop!» And so the whole people cried out: «Ambrose, Bishop!»
Ambrose was not even baptized, he was only a catechumen, that is, he was preparing for Baptism. However, the people sensed something profound in this man and elected him. Thus, the Church had one of its greatest Bishops and a Doctor of the Church.
At first, Ambrose was unwilling; he even fled. Then he understood that it was a call from God, so he allows himself to be baptized and ordained a Bishop. And he becomes a Christian by becoming a Bishop! Do you see what a great gift little ones can give the Church? Even today, it’s a grace we must receive: to become Christians while living the call we have received! Are you a mother? Are you a father? Become a Christian as a mother and father. Are you a businessman, a worker, a teacher, a priest, a woman religious? Become a Christian on your journey. People have that «instinct»: they understand whether we are becoming Christians or not. And they can correct us, they can show us the way to Jesus.
Over the years, Saint Ambrose gave much back to his people. For example, he invented new ways of singing psalms and hymns, of celebrating, and of preaching. He himself knew how to intuit, and thus hope multiplied. Augustine was converted thanks to his preaching and was baptized by him. To intuit is a form of hope, let us not forget this!
Thus, God also moves His Church forward, showing her new paths. To intuit is the instinct of the little ones for the coming Kingdom. May the Jubilee help us become little ones according to the Gospel, so as to intuit and serve God’s dreams!
Translation of the Italian original into Spanish by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester.
